1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a banding tool and more particularly to a power driven banding tool for terminating an electromagnetic shielding sleeve, such as a woven metal braid, used to shield electrical conductors from electromagnetic and radio frequency interference, to an electrical cable connector housing or the like.
2. Background of the Invention
Electrical cables having a plurality of electrical conductors are often provided with a woven metal braid for shielding the conductors from electromagnetic and radio frequency interference. The conductors within the electrical cable are terminated at electrical terminals provided within an electrical connector. The shielding sleeve is terminated to the connector housing. In order to provide a mechanically secure and low resistance connection between the shielding sleeve and the connector housing, a clamping band is used. More particularly, the shielding sleeve is disposed about the outside surface of an extending neck portion of the connector housing. The clamping band is then placed over the shielding sleeve and tightened down about the extending neck portion. A buckle is then used to secure the tension in the clamping band.
Various tools are known in the art for tightening and securing a clamping band to a connector housing. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,688,607 and 4,726,403 disclose manually operated banding tools. These banding tools are provided with gripper mechanisms for incrementally pulling the band along a drive track to tighten the band and secure it to a connector housing. A pivotally mounted handle is operatively connected to the gripper mechanism. Pivotal operation of the handle causes the clamping band to be incrementally pulled along the drive track by the gripper mechanism. A supplemental grip holds the band in position when the gripper mechanism releases the band and regrips the band at a different position. The process is repeated until the band is secure around the connecting sleeve. The band is then rolled over the buckle to retain the tension in the band and subsequently cut and trimmed by one or more different tools to complete the termination.
The banding tools disclosed in the abovementioned prior art are manually operated and incrementally advance the band through the tool. Accordingly, the time and labor cost for tightening and securing the band about the connector housing are relatively high. Moreover, since the various operations are performed with separate tools, this further increases the time and cost.